Sonic Forces: The Return of Infinite
by ShineStarheartX
Summary: After a long battle, Dr. Eggman was finally defeated and peace was restored to Mobius. However, it doesn't last long when Infinite mysteriously returns stronger then before and out to finish what he started. With friends new and old, can Sonic and the reformed resistance put a stop to Infinite and the Phantom Ruby's illusions, or will they question what's real and what's not? R&R!
1. Prologue: The Phantom's Return

**What's up, people of the web?! Lucious Starheart here to present my first fan fiction of the new year! You're welcome to call me Luke or Lucas if you like, just so you know, and here is a story I decided to make after playing the newest Sonic game: Sonic Forces! :D  
**

 **I got inspired after playing the game recently and thought what might happen afterwards. As we all know, Infinite was the real reason the game was so great. Don't get me wrong that SEGA did a good job, but they could've done better in my opinion. There were some areas of the game that could've been worked on a bit more, but I believe it's because of Infinite the game sold. The mysterious masked jackal is quite popular it seemed, and that Phantom Ruby peeked my interest with its power to create virtual reality illusions. Though, I think we haven't seen its full capabilities yet. ;)  
**

 **Now I won't go boring you all too much from here. Just note that this is the first time I'm creating a Sonic the Hedgehog based story and I'd really appreciate it if you guys gave me some feedback on it. Remember that if you don't like it, please don't go giving me harsh criticism about it or grammar and spelling errors here and there. Nobodies perfect. Not even Infinite, and speaking of... Time for him to make his return! Enjoy... ;D**

 _ **WARNING:** **If you haven't played the Sonic Forces game, I suggest not reading this until you do. It may contain spoilers to the game.**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** **I do not legally own the rights to Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights to the characters and other Sonic related events and items belong to SEGA, but I do own this story and OCs. Please support the original creators and franchise. Thank you and enjoy the story.**_

* * *

 **Sonic Forces: The Return of Infinite**

 **Prologue: The Phantom's Return** **  
**

* * *

 _ **~Eggman Empire Fortress, Evening Time~  
**_

 _"Your plan will end like all your plans do: with you sitting in a pile of busted robot parts wondering how you failed so badly."  
_

Those were the words spoken by Sonic the Hedgehog to none other than Doctor Eggman, who was seen near his wrecked fortress after the final battle between his army and the resistance. Like Sonic said, the defeated doctor was seen sitting in anger on a pile of all his busted robot parts with Orbot and Cubot beside him, and the Death Egg Robot he used in the final fight with Sonic was at the top of the pile with him.

"I hate it when that hedgehog is right." growled Dr. Eggman as he gazed angrily out at the sunset.

"Well look on the bright side, doctor..." said Orbot as he and Cubot turned their bodies toward their creator. "At least you'll know what not to do next time."

"Yeah, like having all your robots pilled up near your front door." stated Cubot as he pointed to the busted front entrance to the fortress, while Eggman jumped down and kicked a busted robot head away from him before screaming into the orange colored sky.

"It's just not fair!" he shouted before he got on his knees and pounded his fist into the ground repeatedly, while Orbot and Cubot floated down behind him. "I was doing so well too! How can it all end the same again?! WHY?!"

At that moment, the defeated doctor started to whine like a child, while Orbot and Cubot only watched, feeling bad for their creator yet again. Although, as Eggman was crying his heart out, back on top of the busted robots pile, inside the destroyed Death Egg Robot, a strange red glow was seen in its busted up core. The glow appeared to be coming from a chipped off shard of the Phantom Ruby Eggman used to power his machine. It was all that was left of the strange gem, but as it glowed, it slowly floated up into the air and made its way out of the machine's wreckage.

At the same time, Eggman finally regained his composure as he stood back up, but sighed in sadness though. "Well at least I still got my health." he stated as Orbot and Cubot floated up and patted him on the shoulders, which annoyed him, making them stop and back away in fright when they saw his face. Then the doctor turned around and grinned, "And as long as I still do, I may as well get to work on my next evil scheme. I may have failed this time, but there's always a next time!"

Eggman then laughed as he made his way pass his two robot minions and to his wrecked fortress. "Looks like the boss is back to his old self again." said Orbot to Cubot, who nodded in reply before the two followed their creator.

"First thing's first..." said Eggman as he stopped to examine the wreckage of his fortress, then he turned his gaze at Orbot and Cubot. "We got a lot of cleaning up to do. And by we I mean you two."

Though when they heard that, the two robots were shocked at first, but then they sighed sadly in defeat. Inside, they knew that was to be expected of Eggman as he looked back ahead and was surprised when he saw the Phantom Ruby shard come out of the Death Egg Robot nearby. "Huh... What...?" he asked, causing Orbot and Cubot to look as well and also be surprised as the glowing red shard slowly came down and hovered before the doctor and his robot minions. Unsure of what to make of this, the doctor took a step toward it, but was cautious about it. "Can it be...?"

But just as Eggman took another step closer, the shard's glow intensified, surprising the doctor as he and his two robot minions shielded their vision from the bright red light. At the same time, the shard expanded and took on the form of the completed Phantom Ruby, and not only that, but a familiar shadowy figure started to take form around it slowly. It didn't take long until the figure's form was revealed, which shocked Eggman and his robot minions when they got a look as the red light dimmed, causing them to gasp when they saw it was none other than... Infinite!

"It... It can't be!" exclaimed Eggman as he stepped back from the shock as the light faded, leaving only Infinite and the Phantom Ruby implanted on his chest.

The masked jackal opened his left eye, seeing the doctor, Orbot, and Cubot in front of him. The two robots quickly floated behind some of the robot wreckage in fright, but Eggman stood where he was, trying not to look surprised. "I-Infinite?" he asked as he slowly stepped forward, confused. "Is that...really you?"

"Who were you expecting, doctor?" Infinite replied as he walked towards the doctor, who was even more confused now.

"But... But how?!" he asked, trying to figure out how Infinite was back. "The Phantom Ruby was destroyed along with my Death Egg Robot! How's it even possible for you to just come back?!"

It was true that the mysterious ruby was destroyed when Sonic, the Sonic from the past, and another hedgehog going by the name of Flare, destroyed the Death Egg Robot with a triple boost attack in the last fight, yet somehow a shard survived and it took form of a new Phantom Ruby and Infinite as well. Yet, this made no sense to the doctor as Infinite stopped half a yard away from the confused Eggman. "It's true. I shouldn't be here at all, but I guess I got lucky. After all, only I can wield the power of the Phantom Ruby to its fullest, not that silly robot you used."

Though as much as Eggman wanted to be angry about what Infinite said about his robot, he brushed it off and turned that anger into a grin. "Oh it doesn't matter now." he stated as he rubbed his hands together, getting an evil thought. "With you being back, we can do this all over again. Once I've rebuilt my Eggman army, we'll continue the conquest of Mobius. Those fools thought they've won, but wait till they get a load of you, back from the dead!"

"Yes. However, I'm afraid not everything will go as you just said, doctor." Infinite stated as he crossed his arms, but his words confused Eggman for a moment before he put on his angry face again.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, the tension building up around him and Infinite, causing Orbot and Cubot to shake in fear. "Explain!"

"Simple really." said Infinite as he turned his head and looked up at the evening sky. "I tried doing things your way, doctor, but look at the result. Now that I'm back and now no longer need a power source apparently to use the Phantom Ruby's power, I'll do things MY way now."

"Now look here, you ungrateful little jackal!" exclaimed Eggman as he pointed at the masked jackal in anger. "How dare you? Going against my plan to do things on your own. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have that Phantom Ruby in the first place!"

"And if it weren't for me your plans wouldn't have gotten as far as it did before." Infinite replied back as he turned his sight back on Eggman, who only growled in frustration at the masked jackal. "Besides, I'm more than grateful to you. More ways than one. If it weren't for your use of your machine, the Phantom Ruby would've never been freed from your little power sources. Now that it's free, it chose me to wield it once again. This time without the need of your machinery to power it. Now it needs only me. Infinite."

Again, Eggman growled in anger as he tried to contain himself from doing something stupid against his so-called powerful creation. "You little... Let's not forget that it was I that gave you the power of the Phantom Ruby, and it will be I that'll take it away from you." he stated, but then he looked around his wrecked fortress and then rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "Well, once I get everything cleaned up around here." Then he got serious and pointed his finger towards the masked jackal again. "But when I do, I'll be taking it back!"

In response to Eggman's threats, Infinite laughed as his body was surrounded by the Phantom Ruby's red and black energy, causing him to float up into the air and caused Eggman to worry as he stepped back. "I'd like to see you try that, doctor." said Infinite as his left eye glowed bright red, frightening Orbot and Cubot as they ducked behind the wreckage. "But answer me this... Can you ever truly wield the Phantom Ruby's power the way that I can?!"

With a shout, Infinite burst the Phantom Ruby's energy around, blowing Eggman back by surprise, causing him to roll along the ground until he hit his back on some robot wreckage. "Boss!" shouted Orbot as he and Cubot quickly went over to their creator's aid, while Infinite turned towards the wrecked fortress and began firing a barrage of red energy orbs at it, causing huge explosion around the main building, destroying what was left of the place, shocking Eggman and his two robot minions as they watched him do so.

Infinite laughed like a maniac as he prepared one more red energy orb over his head, but bigger than the rest and launched it at the fortress, causing a massive explosion at the top upon impact, wiping out the top half of the main building. When the explosion subsided, Eggman placed both hands over his head and screamed in horror. "M-My fortress! My glorious Eggman Empire Fortress!" he screamed as Infinite chuckled at his handiwork before looking at his hands, pondering about his powers.

"It truly is as I predicted." he said as he raised a hand up high. "This power is the ultimate power. Nothing can rival it. Yet..." As he pondered about the power the Phantom Ruby gave him, he couldn't help but make a fist when he remembered the last fight he had with Sonic and Flare, causing the anger to build up inside of him. "Yet even with this limitless power, I still couldn't beat them. I'm still not strong enough."

As he growled in anger, the Phantom Ruby's power intensified around his body a bit more. No matter how much he contemplated about it, he knew that there was no way he could defeat Sonic the way he was now, but then an idea popped into his head, which calmed him. "Hmm... I wonder..." he started to think as he brought his hand down. "Perhaps now that the Phantom Ruby no longer needs a generator to supply it with power, I wonder if I can develop it's powers further on my own. If it can bring me back, then it should be possible. Oh yes..."

Thinking on the idea, he chuckled at the thought. He knew what he could do with the Phantom Ruby already, but with some self practice with it, who knows what he could do. "That's what I'll do." he said as he turned to face the sunset. "Just you wait, Sonic. In time I will come for you and your little friends, and when I do you'll wish you were never born."

But before Infinite could take off, out of nowhere, the Death Egg Robot used to battle Sonic in the last fight suddenly came up behind him. Though it was wrecked, it was somehow still able to function with only two working arms and its hovering system. Noticing this, Infinite quickly floated back to get some distance, while in the Death Egg Robot's exposed cockpit was none other than Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot, and they weren't happy. Especially Eggman.

"You little pest!" he exclaimed in rage. "It's one thing to go against your creator, but it's another to wreck my fortress! Even if there's only a small bit of it left. That's where I draw the line!"

Despite its damaged state, Eggman was able to make the Death Egg Robot swing a punch at Infinite, but the masked jackal easily dodged it and simply fired a red energy orb precisely at its exposed cockpit. When he did, Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot's eyes widen in shock as they were hit, causing the damaged machine to explode into pieces, and the threesome to fall to the surface screaming until they landed in a pile of broken robot parts, making Infinite chuckle.

"Well... That was fun while it lasted." he said as he was about to fly away, but he stopped when an idea popped into his head, causing him to look back down towards the doctor and his two robot minions. "Wait a minute. Hmm... I wonder..."

At the same time, Orbot and Cubot were the first to pop out of the robot wreckage, surprised that they were okay. "Huh... We're still in one piece." said Orbot as he checked himself to make sure nothing was damaged from the fall.

"We must've landed in something pretty soft." said Cubot, but the moment he said that, Eggman came out right from under them, surprising them as they were sent back up into the air and landed face first on the ground.

"You bolts-for-brains...!" Eggman shouted in anger at them. "I swear I ought a...!"

But before he could finish his sentence, the doctor looked up to see Infinite floating near. The masked jackal's shadow loomed over him and his two robot minions as they gazed up at him in shock. "You know, as much as I'd like to be rid of you, doctor, I must admit that I may have some use for you." he said while extending a hand out at the threesome, causing Eggman to panic, while Orbot and Cubot quickly got up and hugged each other in fright, shaking in fear. "After all, it's the least I can do...for giving me this power."

Upon saying that, Infinite charged up a red energy orb in his hand, causing Eggman and his two robot minions to scream in horror as Infinite laughed and fired it down at them, causing everything to go red. All that could be heard was the strange sound the Phantom Ruby's power gives off and the maniacally laughter of the masked jackal.

* * *

 _ **"BY THE TIME I'M DONE, THE WORLD WILL KNOW HOW WEAK IT IS COMPARED TO ME."  
**_

* * *

 **And so ends the prologue to what appears to be a new adventure coming up for Sonic and friends. What did you guys think of the prologue? I was going to make it a bit longer, but I thought I keep it short and to the point as much as possible. The real chapters will most likely be a bit longer, so you'll get more in the future. I can guarantee that. XD  
**

 **That aside, if you've read the part about a red hedgehog being in the final battle with the Death Egg Robot, that's the OC I created for my playthrough of the Sonic Forces game. That's right... It's a hedgehog. A red one. Poor Eggman. He just can't stop dealing with hedgehogs. Know what I mean? X)**

 **I did my best to get a good portray of Eggman, Infinite, Orbot, and Cubot in this one. Hopefully it was good. Please do R &R and be sure to fave and follow if you're interested to find out what happens next. What's going to happen to the doctor? What plans does Infinite have for him? And what new powers will he unlock with the Phantom Ruby under his full control? Be sure to find out next time! Until then, I'll be seeing you all around the web! :D**


	2. Episode 1: The Noise Heard Across Mobius

**What's up, everyone?! Lucious Starheart here again welcoming you all to the first official chapter of my take at a sequel to Sonic Forces! Hope you guys enjoyed the short prologue, because now the real stuff is about to happen. I think you're gonna be amazed by what I've come up with in a short amount of time. XD  
**

 **But first thing's first... I'd like to thank those that have read my prologue and thank the few that have faved, followed, and left some reviews for me. Thank you very much for your support and I promise I'll do my best to update my story once or twice a week at least. Thrice if you're lucky. I can't guarantee if I'll be able to, but I'll do my best to get at least one in a week, even if it might be late. Just thought I say that now before it comes back to bite me. ^^;**

 **Now that I've got that said and out of the way, let's take a look at what's to come months after the war for Mobius. What strange things are we about to see now that Infinite is back for more? Will Sonic and the others find out in time, or will something happen and be too late? Let's find out now! Take a look... *I hold a Phantom Ruby prototype to you and it plays the upcoming chapter you're about to read to you* ;D  
**

 _ **WARNING:** **If you haven't played the Sonic Forces game, I suggest not reading this until you do. It may contain spoilers to the game.**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:** **I do not legally own the rights to Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights to the characters and other Sonic related events and items belong to SEGA, but I do own this story and OCs. Please support the original creators and franchise. Thank you and enjoy the story.**_

* * *

 **Sonic Forces: The Return of Infinite**

 **Episode 1: The Noise Heard Across Mobius  
**

* * *

 _ **~City, Day Time~**_

It had been three months since the world was saved from Dr. Eggman's worldwide reign. It had taken some time for the people of Mobius to heal and rebuild what was lost, but now things were finally getting back to normal slowly but surely over the world. It was if all the trouble the world had faced when the doctor came to power had come and gone like the wind. Although, some couldn't forget the terrible damage he caused. Posters were all over the city, making him out to be Mobius enemy number one. Something that two individuals couldn't help but take notice of.

"Wow... He really made a lot of people mad, didn't he?" asked a male dark grey colored wolf with dark green eyes, a light tan colored muzzle and inner ears, wore a black bodysuit with green light armored plating on the stomach and chest area, along with black halfway to elbow length gloves with completely yellow circles on the backhand, and dark grey boots with yellow underfoot and white around toe and ankle areas. The most dominant feature of this peculiar wolf Mobian was the black framed glasses over his eyes, and he had a grey grapple shooter around his left wrist over his glove.

"Well what do you expect? That's what he gets for going out to almost conquering the world." said a male red hedgehog with multiple small spikes on the back of his head, brown eyes, dark tanned colored muzzle and inner ears, wore a black leather jacket with a silver zipper chain, though was unzipped, a black leather bodysuit with a grey belt around the waist and a silver buckle, black finger-less gloves with four grey four pointed diamond-based knuckle protectors, and black boots with two silver plates on red underfoot with curved cleats. Around his left wrist, over his glove, he too had a grapple shooter, but his was red. "Then again, wasn't he already public enemy number one?"

"I guess." replied the Mobian wolf as he and the red hedgehog started making their way down the city streets. "The guy's been causing trouble before we were even born. Of course the last thing did, taking over the world, that really takes the cake."

"I'm just glad that's all over with." said the red hedgehog Mobian as he put his arms behind his head and gazed up at the sky. "I'll tell ya, Ash... Those were the toughest six months of my life."

"It was tough for all of us, Flare." the Mobian wolf named Ash smiled in reply to the red hedgehog named Flare. "But at least it's over now, and these past three months have been peaceful. Despite fixing up the damages across the planet."

"Yeah..." replied Flare as he stopped, thinking back on the past three months. "I hear that."

Over the past three months, after Eggman and Infinite were defeated, people struggled to cope with the change with the war over and all. Flare, after aiding Sonic and the others in the final fight, left afterwards, even though his old commander, Knuckles the Echidna, told him that there were others that needed his help. He kept that in mind as he left, parting ways with Sonic before going off to do things on his own. During that time he ran into Ash, a Mobian wolf with a high IQ and a love to build things. With his help, the two went around giving their support and aid to the surviving Mobians of the war, even running into more friends along the way that were doing the same thing. All former resistance fighters too. In no time, they made a name for themselves and together they helped made Mobius the way it was once again.

But, even with all he's done, both during and after the war, Flare could never forget all he's been through. The war had taken much from him. It had taken much from everyone. Something he couldn't forget. "Hello...? World to Flare? Hello?" asked Ash, who had noticed Flare gazing out into space and waved a hand in front of his face, catching his attention. "You still there, pal?"

"Yeah yeah, Ash." replied Flare as he moved Ash's hand away from him and smiled. "I'm still here. Just...thinking about the past is all."

"You mean like how you worked together with Sonic the Hedgehog?" asked Ash as Flare looked back ahead, remembering the moments he and Sonic cooperated during the war. "I bet it was pretty cool to work alongside him in battle. Was it?"

"You bet it was." Flare answered as he and Ash continued their walk down the streets.

"Do you think you'll be able to work with him again someday?" asked Ash, making Flare think before giving a shrug with his shoulders.

"Who knows?" he replied as he closed his eyes. "I haven't seen the guy in months. With the world back to normal, I'm not sure where he went afterwards."

"Makes you wonder what he's doing now though." Ash said as he took a moment to ponder on what Sonic could be doing at this very moment.

"Well... I may not know him too well, but if I had to guess..." Flare smirked, causing Ash to look back at him again as he opened his brown eyes. "I'll bet he's running around somewhere as we speak."

* * *

 _ **~Green Hill, Day Time~**_

Just as Flare said, Sonic was seen dashing through the hills of the cubical landscape of none other Green Hill. Despite it becoming more like "Sand Hill" as he stated before with sand and desert appearing in some areas, the lush greenness in some areas still kept it going strong as Green Hill. Three months after the war, Sonic wasted no time going around the planet, dealing with the remnants of Eggman's army in certain areas where they were still active. It was a long job, but the past couple of weeks have been less eventful for the speedy blue hedgehog now that most of Mobius was cleared of the doctor's robots.

All that was left for Mobius's blue hero was to go around the planet one more time, making sure everywhere he went truly was robot-less. Green Hill was the final stop. He purposely saved it for last, being his favorite spot and all. As he continued to dash through the area, passing by debris left over from the war and wreckage from Eggman's robots, he stopped at the top of the tallest hill, getting a good bird's eye view of the entire cubical green landscape.

He smiled as he looked around before taking a deep breath and let out a loud whistle that could be heard across the area. After doing so, he listened closely for some kind of feedback, but all he heard was his whistle's echo and the wind, and that brought a grin on his face. "Yeah..." he said before giving a thumbs up to himself. "Not a robot to be heard here either. Looks like my work's finally done. About time."

After three months of cleaning up the remnants of Eggman's army, the blue hedgehog was finally done with his work as he fell back with his arms out in the grass, closing his eyes as he let out a sigh of relaxation. "Ah... Now I can just kick back, lay here, and relax for awhile." he stated, but as he let out another relaxing sigh, suddenly, a beeping sound was heard that surprised him as he opened his eyes and noticed it was the hidden communicator watch under his left glove cuff that his buddy Tails gave him. Though, when he checked it, noticing that it was Tails calling on the small screen, Sonic wasn't all thrilled about it. "Oh Tails... Well at least I got about five seconds of relaxation in."

Even though he just wanted to relax, Sonic couldn't help but smile before answering Tails, seeing the little yellow two-tailed fox on screen. "Hey, Tails. What's happening?" he asked as he leaned back slightly with an arm behind his head.

"Just thought I check in with you, Sonic." Tails smiled in reply. "How are things going on your end?"

"Going? I think you mean done on my end." Sonic replied with a grin. "Egghead's robots are no longer running around the world. Now it's just me."

"I'll take you running over those robots of Eggman's any day." replied Tails, but Sonic noticed something in the background of the screen.

"Hmm...? Say, Tails, where are you anyway?" he asked, surprising Tails for a moment before the two-tailed fox smiled again and showed that he was in a desert with some others, who were apparently working on an excavation site.

"I'm at Sandy Desert with some others." Tails stated before showing his face to Sonic on screen. "I got together with some others and decided to come out here for a little...excavation."

"Excavation?" Sonic asked in response, confused a little. "I didn't think that kind of stuff be your style, Tails. I always saw you more of an indoor kind of guy always working out stuff on computers."

"Wow... Way to stereotype me, Sonic." Tails replied with a bored expression, but then he smiled again. "But you're right that it's not exactly something I'd do, but I got to thinking after the war that...life can be short. Sometimes it's best to do things you thought you'd never do and really see if you like it or not before something happens to you. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, yeah... I get what you're saying." said Sonic in response, brushing off what Tails said with his other hand, not caring too much about the idea, but he understood at least. "But are you enjoying it is the question."

"Honestly... No." answered Tails with a slightly sad face. "It's hot, I barely know anyone out here, and my equipment never seems to work with me out here. I'd go home, but I promised myself I'd see through this for at least the day."

"Well just keep at it, Tails." Sonic smiled. "The day will be over before you know it."

"I hope so." Tails sighed before signing off, leaving Sonic alone.

"Well I don't." he said before spreading his arms out and lied down in the grass again, gazing up at the partly cloudy sky. "I'd like to enjoy today as much as I can. Also, they really got to think of a better name for a desert than Sandy Desert. So original."

Though he found the idea of the name Sandy Desert funny, Sonic quickly realized something. "...And now I'm talking to myself. That's not surprising." he said before smiling and closed his eyes, enjoying the fresh air again. "Nothing wrong with that."

Again, Sonic let out another sigh of relaxation, glad that all his work was done. However, it wasn't long until he heard a strange noise coming from above, causing him to suddenly open his emerald green eyes to see a trail of red and black colors speeding through above the clouds. "Huh?" he said before quickly getting up, hoping to get a better view, but whatever caused the trail above was already far from sight. "What was that? And that noise. It sounded...almost familiar."

Sonic took a second to think about where he heard that strange noise before, but he stopped his train of thought and suddenly dashed down the tall hill he was on and through the rest of Green Hill, giving chase to whatever it was he saw. "Well whatever it was, I better check it out." he said before speeding up, leaving his usual blue trail behind him. Though he wished he could relax a little more, but his curiousness and suspicion got the better of him as always, but deep down, he never was the kind of guy to take it easy for long anyway.

* * *

 _ **~City, Day Time~**_

Back at the city, Flare and Ash were seen enjoying freshly made smoothies outside the local smoothie place. Ash was slurping away at his chocolate mint smoothie, but Flare hardly touched his orange banana smoothie. The red hedgehog couldn't help but ponder back on the last fight he and Sonic had with Infinite. The way the masked jackal disappeared in a trail of light to Eggman's fortress always baffled him. Destroying the main generator should've done him in, but something about that didn't seem right with him. It never felt right for the past three months, but he could never figure out why.

Eventually, Ash took noticed of Flare's spacing out into space again and was starting to get a little concern. "Uh... Flare?" he asked, catching the red hedgehog's attention as he turned his head at his Mobian wolf friend. "You okay? That's the second time today you've been staring into space."

"Sorry, Ash." Flare apologized with a somewhat guilty expression. "I've just had a lot on my mind. And before you ask, yes... It's about the past."

"Flare, you gotta start letting that go." Ash replied, now a bit worried for his friend. "What happened happened. I know it was a lot to handle, for all of us too, but you shouldn't keep letting it from ruining what's happening now, you know?"

"Yeah... I know." replied Flare as he grabbed and took a sip of his smoothie, which made his eyes widen and he spit what was in his mouth to the ground, disgusted. "Bleh...! That's terrible! Why did I order this?"

"Hey you're the one that said you wanted to expand your palette more." Ash grinned in amusement before sipping his own smoothie again, while Flare pushed his away in disgust.

"Biggest mistake I made today." he said, but then, not a moment later, Flare's small ears, a bit small for a hedgehog, caught whiff of a bunch of other Mobians talking nearby, catching his attention.

"Is it really true?" a male bird Mobian asked.

"Yeah. Right outside the city too." replied a male dog Mobian. "Dozens of them too."

"I can't believe this." said the male bird Mobian, worried. "After all these months, he's at it again?"

"He just never seems to stop, even after he's been put down." replied a female rabbit Mobian.

Hearing this, Flare got a bit curious, yet concern over what they're talking about. "Wonder what's up." he said, catching Ash's attention as he watched as Flare got out of his seat and proceeded to walk over to the other Mobians. "Come on, Ash. Let's go find out."

Though Ash was a bit surprised at first, he quickly the last of his smoothie before getting out of his seat too and headed after Flare. "Wait up, Flare!" he exclaimed, catching up to the red hedgehog with ease and approached the other Mobians with him.

"Hey. Excuse me, but what are you guys talking about over here?" Flare asked, causing the other Mobians to turn their gaze at him and Ash.

"You mean you haven't heard?" the male Mobian dog asked back. "People have been saying that they've seen Eggman's robots just outside the city recently."

Upon hearing that, Flare and Ash's eyes widen in shock. "What?!" they asked in unison, while the bird Mobian nodded in response.

"Yeah." he said before pointing out towards the forest off behind some buildings. "They're out there chopping down trees for some reason. We don't know why, but they are."

"And if it's because of Eggman, it's never a good reason for the rest of us." stated the female rabbit Mobian, bu tall this caused worry for Flare and Ash.

"So after all this time, Eggman's at it again, huh?" asked Flare as the other Mobians nodded in response, but this made Ash a bit confused.

"But chopping down trees? And near the city no less." he said as he scratched the back of his head. "Something about that doesn't sound right. I thought Eggman would do that in a place less...attracting."

"Well whatever the reason, he's doing it right outside our door." Flare stated with a serious face before looking back at the other Mobians. "You said they're just outside the city limits, right?" he asked as they nodded in reply, then Flare turned his sight back on his friend. "Well then, let's get to it, Ash."

"Right!" Ash nodded in reply before he and Flare ran passed the other Mobians and fired their wrist device grapples and went soaring into the air until they landed on top of some buildings, then proceeded to head into the nearby forest.

* * *

 _ **~Mystic Jungle, Eggman's Secret Lab, Day Time~**_

At the same time as everything else with Sonic, Flare, and Ash, deep in Mystic Jungle, inside Eggman's secret laboratory, the shadow of the doctor was seen coming into a room. It was the same type of room where he monitored the progress of Infinite with dozens of other test tubes, all empty though. He slowly walked further inside the room until he reached a set of monitors and a control panel, all powering on the moment he stop right in front of them.

"Welcome back, doctor." the main computer with a feminine voice welcomed the doctor. "What are you commands?"

"I wish to begin the little project I've been working on." said Dr. Eggman with a grin and a chuckle. "Prepare to charge up the energy wave."

"Preparing energy wave for Project Phantom World." the main computer replied as multiple files opened and loaded up on the multiple screens, but one pointed an arrow down at the control panel. "Please insert Chaos Emerald to begin."

Just as the computer said that, the doctor took out one of the seven Chaos Emeralds, the red one to be exact, and wasted no time inserting it into a slot specifically made for an emerald. "Inserting." he chuckled as the computer then opened up more files and loaded up the energy output from the Chaos Emerald before asking a yes or no on the main monitor.

"Waiting final authorization." said the main computer as Eggman typed in the authorization code on the control panel, and then clicked the enter button.

"Authorization granted!" he exclaimed in excitement. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Once the doctor had given the final authorization, the computer began the charge up sequence for the energy wave spoken of. The doctor then laughed as he watched the loading bar slowly build up and electricity surged from the multiple test tubes around the room, giving as much energy possible. Even the red Chaos Emerald was giving off electricity, in red color. Apparently being pushed to the limit of its endless supply of power.

* * *

 _ **~Outside the City, Sunny Forest, Day Time~**_

Meanwhile, back in the forest outside the city, it was true as the other Mobians said. At this moment, dozens of Eggman's robots were seen cutting down trees one after another, but they're not collecting them it seemed, just cutting them down as if they were only leveling the place. It didn't take long for Flare and Ash to come onto the scene, using their grapples to get up high on a tree branch to get a better view of the situation.

"What in the world?" asked Flare, seeing all the trees that were cut down. "They're destroying the forest."

"But why?" asked Ash, confused. "It doesn't make any sense. They're not collecting the trees for anything. What's the whole point to this?"

"If it has anything to do with Eggman, it's never good." Flare replied, getting serious as he stood up. "Besides, this is a crime to nature, and I won't stand for it. Let's go, Ash!"

Wasting no time at all, Flare jumped down, surprising Ash before he jumped down after him, both landing on the ground, but this caught the attention of the robots. "Hey bolt-heads...! Why don't you pick on someone that can actually fight back, huh?!" shouted Flare as he pointed at the robots, who didn't hesitate to make their charge right for the Mobian hedgehog and wolf with their saws and axes.

"Scatter!" shouted Ash as he and Flare launched their grapples in separated directions, dividing the horde of robots.

Flare went into the trees, shooting grapple after grapple to stay high above the chasing mechs, who were cutting down the trees he jumped off of each time. Eventually, Flare led them to another tree, but this time he used his grapple to swing around and land a kick from the robot in the back of the group by surprise, sending it flying into the other unexpected mechs. Afterwards, Flare landed on the ground and ran at them as they got back up, launching his grapple at one of them and gave himself a boost for a strong kick to it's central region, breaking it circuits on impact.

One of the other mechs tried to swing its axe on the red hedgehog, but Flare fired his grapple upwards and dodged it in time, then came down upon them and took out a small device out of his inner leather jacket pocket. It appeared to be a small pocket sized version of the Burst Wispon given to him by Knuckles when he was in the resistance. He pressed a button on it and it suddenly grew in size to the point where it could be used like before. "Burn up!" Flared shouted as he fired his Wispon, sending fire down below at them, burning them all to a point they overheated and exploded because of it.

Once they were all destroyed, Flare landed back on his feet and smirked at his handiwork. Meanwhile, Ash ran for his life against the robots that gave chase to him, but like Flare he used his grapple to get more distance from them, trying to avoid their saws and axes. However, one of them jumped forward and came down upon him with its saw, but Ash noticed the attack in time and side-stepped out of the way, but by doing so he got his back up against a tree. "Uh oh...!" he said as he then noticed the robots slowly surrounded and converged towards him for the kill.

At first the Mobian wolf looked frightened, but then he suddenly smirked, as if it was all an act, confusing the robots as they stopped their approach, while Ash took out a pocket sized Wispon of his own and pressed its button, making it expand to a more usable size. Unlike Flare's, his was the Hover Wispon. "Gotcha!" he shouted before firing a blast of strong air at the incoming mechs, blowing them away one after another into the surrounding trees, causing them to break and explode upon impact.

After Ash took out the last one, he grinned with joy at his accomplishment and jumped up in the air in excitement, throwing his free hand into a fist up. "Yeah!"

With the horde of robots now gone, it wasn't long till Flare and Ash regrouped back at the site of the mowed down trees, both smiling at one another. "Well that was easier than expected." said Flare, stopping half a yard away from his friend. "You?"

"Piece of cake." replied Ash, showing off his Hover Wispon. "They didn't see it coming."

"I gotta admit, Ash, that this was pure genius on your part." Flare stated as he showed off his Burst Wispon before pressing a button on it, making it shrink to pocket size. "Not only did they not know what had these, but it's so much easier to carry these things too."

"Right?" Ash asked in response as he and Flare put their Wispons away, then Ash lost his smile, now confused again. "Still, why do you think they were doing this anyway? What's the benefit from this?"

"I honestly have no idea, Ash." answered Flare as he crossed his arms and looked around the leveled out bit of the forest. "Could be a whole number of reasons why."

"It's still very strange." Ash replied as he went to check out the area more, leaving Flare alone for a moment in his thoughts.

But not long after Ash left Flare's side, a small bright light caught Flare's eye. "Huh?" he said, noticing it was coming from a pile of tree leaves that came off a torn down tree. Curious, the red hedgehog slowly made his way towards it without Ash noticing, getting down on one knee once he was near and brushed away the leaves off of what appeared to be...the white colored Chaos Emerald! "Huh...?! What's this?"

"What's what, Flare?" asked Ash, hearing Flare's voice and quickly ran over to where he was. "Did you find something?"

At that moment, Flare picked up the white Chaos Emerald before he stood back up and turned around, showing it to his friend. "I found this." he said, but the moment he showed it to the Mobian Wolf, Ash gasped in awe.

"T-That's...a Chaos Emerald!" he exclaimed, but this surprised Flare as he is eyes widen before setting them onto the emerald in his hand.

"A Chaos Emerald?!" he asked, finding it unbelievable that he found and was holding one of the seven mystical gems he and everyone else of Mobius have heard so much about. "That's what this is?"

"There's no mistake. It looks just like one of the emeralds I've heard of all my life." stated Ash with smile as his eyes sparkled in admiration at the emerald. "The way it glows and everything. This definitely one of those amazing gems."

"Then this must be the reason why Eggman's robots were here in the first place." said Flare, starting to put it all together now. "It all makes sense now. Eggman must be trying to gather up the emeralds for something."

"Yeah, but for what?" asked Ash, now carrying a worried expression. "Knowing that guy, it can't be for anything good."

"Well it's a good thing we got it now." said Flare as he took a few steps away from Ash, but the Mobian wolf followed, while the red hedgehog couldn't take his eyes off of the beauty of the white emerald in his hand, seeing his smile in its clear reflection. "A Chaos Emerald... This is the first time I've ever seen one."

He had heard about the mythical Chaos Emeralds all his life, but never has been able to hold one so close to him. He wasn't sure how to explain it, but just by looking at the emerald, Flare could feel the power it was giving off. To him, it was an amazing feeling as he held it up high above his head, seeing both he and Ash smiling from its reflection. "So... What should we do with this thing?"

"I have no idea honestly." Ash answered before turning his smile towards his friend. "Who knows what we can do with Chaos Emerald. With just one alone, the possibilities are endless, Flare."

"Endless possibilities, huh...?" Flare smiled back at his friend in response, then he looked back at the emerald and tossed it up in the air and caught it on the way down and continued to do this a few more times. "I like the sound of that."

With another toss into the air, the white Chaos Emerald let out a flash of light when the sun reflected off of it.

* * *

 _ **~Mystic Jungle, Eggman's Secret Lab, Day Time~**_

But at the same time, back in Eggman's Secret Lab in Mystic Jungle, the doctor had already left, but the main computer's monitor showed the loading process of the energy from the red emerald. The loading had just finished with the last percentage, and when it did, a massive spike in energy was given off throughout the laboratory, causing the place to shake, breaking all of the test tubes one by one.

Outside the lab, the tremors could be felt across the jungle, but that wasn't the only thing. In a flash, a massive wave of energy was released from the center of the lab's location, spreading across the entire jungle. As it did, a piercing noise was given off, similar to the noise the Phantom Ruby can make, hurting the ears of the local wildlife, but it didn't stop with them. The energy wave continued to spread after the jungle...and across the rest of the globe.

* * *

 _ **~Outside Green Hill, "Sand Hill", Day Time~**_

At the same time, Sonic was still giving chase to the strange trail of red and black energy he saw in the sky, leaving the limits of Green Hill and raced across the sands of so called Sand Hill. However, he took notice of the strange energy wave coming his way ahead and suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Huh...? What's that?" he asked, but he suddenly fell to his knees when he heard the piercing noise, screaming in pain as he covered his ears. "AAAAHH!"

He shut his eyes tight from the pain, but he tried to fight it, but he barely managed to open one of his eyes. "Ugh...! What...is this?!" he asked before he continued his wails of pain after shutting his barely opened eye. "AAAAAAAAHHH!"

* * *

 _ **~Outside the City, Sunny Forest, Day Time~**_

Back at the forest outside the city, Flare and Ash were about to make their way back with the white emerald still in Flare's hand. However, they stopped when they noticed the strange energy wave coming their way when they looked up to see it coming to their leveled down area of the forest. The energy wave made its way over the trees with the noise hurting the ears of the local wildlife here too.

"Huh...?" said Flare, surprised by what he was seeing.

"What in the world is that?!" asked Ash, but suddenly, the Mobian wolf shut his eyes, covered his ears, and dropped to his knees, screaming in pain from the piercing noise to his sensitive ears. "AAAAAAAHHH!"

"Ash!" exclaimed Flare when he turned back to his friend, confused though as the energy wave passed by, but he didn't seem to be hearing any piercing noises at all. "Are you all right?! What's wrong?"

"T-THE...NOISE!" shouted Ash in agonizing pain. "I-IT'S...HURTING...MY SENSITIVE...EARS!"

"Huh...? Noise?! What noise?!" Flare shouted back, still confused, but that changed when he felt a tremor, causing him to almost lose his balance. "W-W-Whoa... Whoa...! Now what...?!"

* * *

 _ **~Mobius~**_

All across Mobius, from the Mystic Jungle all the way to the far corners of the globe, the strange energy wave spread everywhere. Everywhere it went, everyone, wildlife and Mobians alike, all heard the noise the energy wave gave off. They tried covering their ears, but that didn't stop the tremors they also felt. First the noise, then tremors were felt everywhere, even in places where tremors weren't suppose to happen. It was as if the whole world was gone mad. Even in Angel Island, the floating island in the sky, Knuckles could feel the tremors and hear the noise too, all while he was guarding the Master Emerald as always. No matter where you were on the planet, whether in a small village or a big city like Metropolis, you'd feel the tremors and hear the screeching noise that the Phantom Ruby could give off. This lasted for about five minutes until the energy wave finished spreading across the globe. Afterwards, the tremors across the planet slowly died down and the noise faded away. _  
_

* * *

 _ **~Outside Green Hill, "Sand Hill", Day Time~**_

Once the tremors and the noise finally subsided, Sonic was able to stand back up, though it took a minute for his hearing to come back to normal. Afterwards, he shook his head and rubbed it. "Ugh... Dang... That gave me a splitting headache." he said as he looked back ahead. "Ah... What was that anyway?"

But just after he asked himself that, his communicator watch went off again, catching his attention as he checked it under his cuff and saw that it was Tails calling again. Immediately after checking, he answered the call. "What's up, Tails?" he asked out of the gate. "Did you feel and hear all that too?"

"I think everyone heard it, Sonic." the two-tailed fox replied as he showed the other Mobians at the excavation site he was at through the watch's screen, showing that they were recovering their hearing afterwards. Then Tails showed himself alone on the screen again. "What was all that?"

"That's what I wanna find out." replied the blue hedgehog, getting serious now as he looked up into the sky, putting together everything that's happened so far. With the strange trail of red and black colors in the sky, and the recent worldly tremors and noise, all of that was starting to get him thinking, and in his mind, there was only one person that could be behind all of this. "I'll bet my shoes that this was all your doing... Eggman."

Just saying his name into the wind, a vision of Eggman could be seen in the sky, laughing his usual laugh as if he was mocking Sonic and the rest of the world. No matter what strange things happen in this world, it always led back to the one person the people of Mobius feared and hated the most: Doctor Eggman.

* * *

 _ **~Outside the City, Sunny Forest, Day Time~**_

With the tremors and noise gone, Ash stood back up, but was rubbing his ears and groaned in pain, while Flare tried to comprehend what just happened. "Ugh... My head hurts." said Ash in pain as Flare turned his head back towards his friend.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Flare asked, concern for his friend as the Mobian wolf turned towards the red hedgehog.

"Sort of." he answered, still rubbing his ears, but he was confused about something. "Wait... Didn't you hear that weird noise, Flare?"

"No." Flare shook his head in response. "Even with my small ears, I would've heard what you heard. But I definitely felt the tremors."

"That's...odd." Ash replied, putting his hands down off his ears. "How come I heard all that and you didn't? And what was that all about?"

"I don't know, Ash." Flare replied, looking down at the white emerald still in his hand, but then he gazed up at the sky, seeing the same laughing image of Eggman that Sonic saw, giving him a serious expression now. "But I got me a hunch on who's behind it."

Though Ash was confused at first, it didn't take long for him to understand who Flare was referring to, giving the Mobian wolf a serious look on his face too as Flare looked back at him. They gave each other the same look before Flare put the emerald away and the two dashed back into the forest. They weren't sure where they were going, but they at least knew what they had to do. To them, this indicated one thing: Eggman was back.

* * *

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED...**_

* * *

 **And so marks the end of the first official chapter of the story. Strange things are happening in Mobius. What was that strange trail of colors Sonic saw? What was up with those tremors and that noise? And what did Eggman mean by "Project Phantom World"? Who knows the answers to all these questions? Well, I do, but I ain't telling, so don't even bother trying to get it out of me, guys! DX  
**

 **But, that aside, hope you all liked my chapter. I finally got to introduce two of my OCs: Flare the Hedgehog and Ash the Wolf. The two sound like a pretty neat duo, don't you think? Flare and Ash! I like the sound of that. I may have more to show in the future, but these two were the ones I really wanted to introduce. It's a shame that you only get to make one character for the game's story, but not here in this case. Also, I'm aware about the Ash from the comic series, so please don't go mentioning him in the reviews and telling me about it. I already know! XD**

 **Anyway, that's about it for now! Hope I did a good job making this. It took me a couple of days, but it took me about a week to get the whole story started in my head truthfully. I got so much more to offer, and at the rate I'm going, I may have another one very soon. Though don't expect it to be too soon. I'm still not gonna guarantee when I'll have my next chapter up. That being said, see you all next time! :D**


	3. Episode 2: The Doctor's Back in Town

**Hello, everyone! Welcome back! I'm so glad you could come check out my newest chapter of my take at a sequel to Sonic Forces. I gotta admit that I'm having a ball writing this story. Just like how Sonic has a ball whenever he spins into one, get it? ;)  
**

 **Before we begin, I just wanna say thanks to those who reviewed my first official chapter previously and to those who gave me some faves and follows. You guys are the reason why I'm still doing this. Please keep it up! Also, if any of you happen to know, or if you're apart of any communities that would like to have my story in it, please do add it or let me know about it so I can go talk to the person running it. I'd love to see my story get into some communities, so if you know of one or two, don't hesitate to tell me about them. I'll give you a big thank you in the next chapter if it works out. :D**

 **Now that I've got all that said and out of the way, let's recap real quick. So far Mobius was hit with a strong tremor that went entirely across its surface. Even Angel Island was hit, and it's floating in the air for crying out loud! Not only that, but that noise hurt a lot of Mobian ears, but how come Flare was the only one in the entire world not able to hear it? Strange, am I right? To know the answer to that question, we must press on further into the story! The answer to that, and whatever other questions, will be revealed soon enough! Until then, enjoy the second chapter! XD**

 _ **WARNING:**_ _ **If you haven't played the Sonic Forces game, I suggest not reading this until you do. It may contain spoilers to the game.**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _ **I do not legally own the rights to Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights to the characters and other Sonic related events and items belong to SEGA, but I do own this story and OCs. Please support the original creators and franchise. Thank you and enjoy the story.**_

* * *

 **Sonic Forces: The Return of Infinite**

 **Episode 2: The Doctor's Back in Town**

* * *

 _ **~Crimson Peak, Day Time~  
**_

Somewhere up in the mountains of Mobius, on a known lonely rock called Crimson Peak, known for almost have a crimson colored coating, a familiar black hedgehog with a bit of red was seen, looking out into the distance. He could see the vast land far down below with the clouds not so far above him, but the beautiful sight wasn't why he was there. In fact, the reason why he was there was brought to halt after the recent event with the worldly tremors and screeching noise. He was seen speaking through his communicator, which was connected to his left glove.

"Are you telling me the truth, Rouge?" he asked as the wind blew across his right side.

"There's no mistake about it, Shadow." replied the known bat girl called Rouge through the communicator. "The intelligence division confirmed that whatever just happened all points to Eggman's old lab in Mystic Jungle. You know, the one you destroyed over a year ago."

Thinking back on it, Shadow recalled destroying a lab of Eggman's there about a year ago. It was also where he faced off with Infinite before he became the masked jackal Mobius soon feared. "Yeah... I remember that place." he replied as he gazed back out into the distance. "So the doctor got the place up and running again."

"Exactly." replied Rouge through the communicator again. "And after what just happened, who knows what he's up to. It doesn't feel good."

"After just went down, it certainly isn't." stated Shadow as he looked back at his communicator. "All right... Tell the others that I'll be heading there now. I'll find out what the doctor's up to this time."

"Roger that, Shadow." Rouge replied, but didn't hang up just yet. "By the way, did you find what you were looking for up in Crimson Peak?"

"No." answered Shadow with a shake of his head. "Not even a Chaos Emerald either. So much for the intelligence division's information about a power source type of crystal up here. That's the last time I listen to someone else's info."

"Don't go blaming them, Shadow." said Rouge in response as Shadow turned and started walking along the cliff edge of the mountain. "It was worth a look anyway. Crimson Peak hasn't had that much searching in a long time. Besides, you could've used some fresh mountain air."

"Hmph... Sure..." Shadow replied, hearing a chuckle from Rouge before signing off, then stopped and turned his head to gaze out at the distance again, thinking about the recent events with the war and Eggman. "So you're back to causing trouble again, huh, doctor? You never learn your place, do you? Wonder what you're up to this time." he said before he leaped off the cliff and took a dive down the side of the mountain, using his rocket shoes to gain some speed before taking a ninety degree turn and shot forward into the distance.

* * *

 _ **~Sandy Desert, Evening Time~**_

The sun had just begun to set on this strange day. In the cliche named Sandy Desert, Tails was seeing flying in his plane, the Tornado-1, after leaving the excavation site. After the tremors and loud noise event, the site was closed down for now, so the two-tailed fox wasted no time getting into his favorite biplane and took off to get some answers. During that time, he wasted not a second trying to find out what happened using his Miles Electric pad to pinpoint where the strange energy wave originated from. Eventually, he found where it came from, and it surprised him.

"No way!" he exclaimed, reading his Miles Electric closely before pressing some buttons on it, changing it to communication mode. "This is unbelievable. Sonic's gonna wanna know about this."

With a push of a call button, Tails waited for about five seconds until Sonic's face was seen on his pad's monitor. "What's up, Tails?" he asked, seeing the so called Sand Hill in the background. "Did you find something?"

"Without a doubt." the two-tailed fox nodded in reply. "I used my Miles Electric and was able to find out where that weird energy wave we saw earlier came from. Turns out, it came from Mystic Jungle!"

"Mystic Jungle?" Sonic asked, a bit surprised though. "Didn't one of Eggman's labs get destroyed there a year ago by Shadow? Did it come from there? You sure you read that thing right?"

"Positive." Tails replied, convinced by his own readings. "There's no mistake. It had to have come from Eggman's old lab. He must've rebuild over the past three months. Wouldn't be surprising if he did."

"I hear that." replied Sonic when he thought about it before giving a smirk through the monitor. "In that case, I'll head for there now."

"Okay." Tailed nodded in reply. "I'll meet you there, Sonic." he said before signing and turned off his Miles Electric, then he changed the direction he was going and began making way to Mystic Jungle, hoping to meet up with Sonic there as soon as possible.

* * *

 _ **~Underneath the City, Secret Base, Evening Time~**_

Back at the city, once Flare and Ash had returned from Sunny Forest, the two were seen taking an elevator down to a hidden floor underneath one of the buildings that was used for apartment living near the top of the cliff side area. As they went down, Flare still couldn't figure out why he couldn't hear whatever Ash heard before the tremors came. Ash was unsure why either, but their train of thinking was brought to a halt after they reached the underground floor.

The elevator opened to reveal a small hallway leading to a more open room that had a few couches, one slightly bigger than the others and green while the other two were tan colored, a circular rug underneath with mixtures of shades of red, a flat screen television set hanging from the ceiling, and a couple lamps with stands on the sides of the room, along with desks with papers and other objects that mostly appeared to have been built by hand. There were windows along one side of the room that showed a view of the ocean that the city was next too, indicating that this place was built inside under the cliff above. In the far end of the room was a large computer monitor and a control panel with a wheel desk chair. The small hallway also had two doors on both sides leading into different rooms. A kitchen and a generator room, and two bigger rooms made for living and sleeping that also had windows in them.

However, upon stepping out of the elevator, Flare and Ash's eyes widen in surprise when they saw a huge mess the main room was in after the tremors hit. Fortunately the computer wasn't damage, but the television was barely hanging up, and the other rooms were just as much of a mess with things either broken or had fallen all over the floors. "Whoa... Look at this mess." said Flare when he noticed the mess everywhere.

"I figured the place was going to be mess after what just happened, but I wasn't expecting this." stated Ash as he and Flare and ventured down the small hallway, but as they did, they stopped when a small figure came out of one of the more bigger rooms.

"I was wondering when you two were coming back!" exclaimed the figure, sounding like a young girl, and didn't sound like a happy one, surprising Flare and Ash as they saw it was a Mobian wolf like Ash, but slightly shorter, younger, and had a lighter color of grey fur compared to Ash. She too had dark green eyes and a tan colored muzzle and inner ears like him, but she wore a black leather jacket similar to Flare's, but hers had smaller sleeves, and was unzipped, revealing she had white fur on her stomach area. She also wore white gloves with black bracelets with small multiple spikes around them, ripped dark blue jeans, and black boots that also had small multiple spikes around the laces.

"Uh... Pyre... We..." said Ash to the other Mobian wolf named Pyre, who only stomped towards him and Flare with anger in her eyes and her teeth grit with a fang showing, frightening them a little.

"Don't you Pyre me, big bro!" she exclaimed, stating Ash as her big brother as she pointed back at the mess everywhere. "Look at this mess!" she stated before putting her hands on her hips. "Do you have any idea how long it's going to take for red head here to clean all this up?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Flare in agreement to Ash, but then he realized that Pyre was referring to him as the red head because of his red fur. "Wait, what...?!"

"Never mind the mess right now, Pyre!" Ash replied, getting serious as he ran pass his little sister, surprising her a little as the bigger Mobian wolf made his way through the mess and to the large computer. "We got more important things to do besides cleaning up the place." he stated as he jumped into the chair and began typing away at the keys on the control panel.

"I hope you weren't being too serious about that." said Pyre as she and Flare made their way to the computer as well, though Pyre still wasn't happy about the mess she had to step in. "Let's not forget who's here most of the time. I'm not gonna clean up this place every time you and Flare here are away, you know? It's gets really annoying. Especially when you two bozos don't help at all."

"Uh, Pyre... As much as I'd like to listen to you complain, this is kinda more important right now." stated Flare with a nervous grin to the young Mobian wolf, who quickly shot a glare up at him.

"What could be more important then keeping our place of living clean?" she asked before crossing her arms and turned away with her eyes closed. "If it weren't for me, you guys would be running around in your own filth. Not that I don't mind it myself from time to time, but this is ridiculous. Earthquake or not."

"But those earthquakes are what's more important right now, Pyre." stated Ash, causing Pyre to open her eyes and gaze toward her older brother as he continued typing away at the control panel. "Besides, Flare and I have a good reason to believe that Doctor Eggman's behind it."

"Doctor Eggman?!" asked Pyre in complete surprise. "You mean that crazy doc is back?!"

"If we're right, then he is." Flare replied with a serious face, while Pyre growled in frustration before going over to one of the moved couches and jumped on it.

"Doesn't that guy ever learn to just quit?" she asked as she threw her arms behind her, her back turned from the computer. "I mean, after countless years of failure, I would eventually. Why can't someone just end him already?"

"He's just one of those guys, Pyre." said Ash, though the thought of finishing off Eggman for good didn't sound like a bad one, and he couldn't understand why nobody, not even Sonic, had done that yet.

"Well, whether the guy get killed or not, it's kinda funny to see his big plans fail in the end." Flare stated with a smile as he thought back on how frustrated Eggman could get whenever something never goes his way, but even more so when his plans ultimately fail.

Thinking about that as well, Pyre couldn't help but chuckle and grin at the thought too. "Heh... Okay, that is kinda funny." she admitted as Ash founded what he was looking for after typing away at the computer.

"Location found." the computer said in a mechanical male voice.

"Got it!" exclaimed Ash as Flare and Pyre turned their heads at the large computer's screen, showing a pinpointed location to them. "Looks like the source behind the earthquakes and that noise we all heard came from somewhere in Mystic Jungle."

"Mystic Jungle?" asked Flare, confused as he scratched the side of his head. "How could it have come from there?"

"Well, didn't you say once that Eggman had a lab somewhere in that area?" Ash asked back, making Flare think back on the events of the war.

"Yeah, but that place was destroyed and shutdown." he stated, but then he thought about it a little more. "Unless he brought it back up after the war."

"Oh wow... Congratulations on figuring that one out." said the computer sarcastically, causing Flare and Ash to look at it with widen eyes, surprised, but Pyre just chuckled at what it said.

"I was just thinking the same thing, Computer." she grinned as Ash looked back at her and pointed his thumb back at the computer.

"Um, Pyre... Why did the computer just started talking like an artificial being and insulted Flare?" he asked as Pyre just waved a hand at her older brother in response with her eyes closed.

"Oh don't worry about that, big bro." she said before turning away and got comfortable again on the couch, putting her arms behind her head again. "I may have tampered with Computer while you were gone and gave him more artificial life settings."

"How did you even do that?!" asked Ash, baffled by the idea. "You're not even that good at working the computer!"

"Who cares?" Flare replied as he smirked towards the computer with his hands on his hips. "Sure it was a bit insulting, but no harm done. Besides, I think it's kinda neat to have a computer with more life to it."

"Well at least someone other than Pyre likes my way of life now." said Computer. "Unlike a certain wolf boy with a darker shade of grey and glasses."

The moment Computer said that, Ash grew an annoyed look on his face as he shot a glare back at the computer before shooting it towards Pyre instead. "I'll deal with this and YOU for tampering with my computer when I get back." he said as she jumped out of his chair and smiled towards Flare. "We going to Mystic Jungle or what?"

"You bet we are." Flare grinned in reply with a thumbs up before he and Ash ran back to the elevator. "Let's go find out what Eggman's up to this time."

"Hey...! Wait a minute!" shouted Pyre as she quickly stood up on the couch and shot another anger expression towards her older brother and Flare. "What about this mess?! You can't expect me to clean this all this by myself!"

"You'll be fine." Flare replied, stopping before getting into the elevator as Ash got on first, but he took out the white Chaos Emerald he found before and tossed it all the way to Pyre. "Here! Hold on to this for me!"

Surprised at first, but Pyre managed to catch the emerald like a baseball, but when she did, she brought it down to her eye level and was in awe by how it gave out a glow. "Whoa...!" she said before looking back towards Flare. "What is this thing?!"

"It's a Chaos Emerald!" Flare shouted back with a smile as he entered the elevator and Ash pushed a button to go up. "We found it earlier today while dealing with some of Eggman's bots in the forest!"

At first, Pyre had no clue what Flare was talking about, but as she gazed back and forward repeatedly between Flare and the Chaos Emerald, she started to realize that this was one of the spoken seven emeralds she's heard so much about. Upon realizing this, her eyes widen in shock as she took one last look at Flare and Ash, just as the elevator was a second away from closing and shouted, "This is a Chaos Emerald?!"

* * *

 _ **~Mystic Jungle, Jungle Road, Night Time~**_

Night had fallen upon Mobius, but even at night, the light of the moon shined down on the planet's surface, giving light to even a dark place like the Mystic Jungle. Like most jungles, it was wet, filled with trees that never seem to dry out, and filled with rivers and bayous in certain areas. There were also left over wreckage of Eggman's robots scattered here and there throughout the area, in both on land and in the waters. A sign that this place was also cleaned out of the doctor's machines too, and even some had been covered by moss and vines from over the years even before the war.

 **(Song Plays: Rival Battle - Shadow (For True Story) - Sonic Generations)**

At first, all seemed quiet, but the silence was broken when Sonic was seen dashing through one side of the jungle, making his way to where he remembered Eggman's old lab being. At the same time, on the other side of the jungle, Shadow was seen flying through the air, thanks to his hover shoes before powering them down and grind on some torn down curvy trees, spiraling around before taking a big leap into the air, just as Sonic did the same when he had to jump over a large river ahead. At that moment, the two hedgehogs came right for one another and passed each other in mid-air. The moonlight shining behind them as they did with Shadow, in slow motion, turned his eyes to the passing by blue hedgehog, and Sonic did the same to the black hedgehog, but with a grin.

Afterwards, Shadow was the first to land on the ground and skated his way down the road with Sonic running right behind him after landing on his feet too. It didn't take long for the speedy blue hedgehog to catch up to the ultimate lifeform and kept pace right next to him. "Hey, Shadow! Long time no see!" he grinned towards the black hedgehog. "What brings you all the way out here? Going to the same place as me I'm betting?"

"Appears that way." Shadow replied, not looking away from the path ahead. "Unless it's not the doctor's old lab."

"Yep! Definitely the same place." replied Sonic as he looked back ahead too, but he couldn't help but grin and turn his eyes back towards the black hedgehog. "Care for a little race along the way?"

"Hmph..." said Shadow as a smirk grew on his face, just as he and Sonic increased in speed. "Why not?"

No matter how serious Shadow normally was, over the years, the black hedgehog couldn't seem to resist having a little competition from time to time with Sonic, and Sonic always loved having a bit of competition. At the same time, as they raced down the jungle road, Tails was seen coming up a ways behind them in his Tornado-1, spotting the blue and yellow trails left by the speeding hedgehogs. "There's Sonic!" he exclaimed, happy to see his friend. "I knew he'd come." but then he spotted Shadow skating alongside the blue hedgehog, which surprised the two-tailed fox. "What? Is that...Shadow?! What's he doing here?"

Though it didn't take long for Tails to figure out why Shadow could be in Mystic Jungle too as he looked back ahead. "He must be heading for Eggman's lab too." he said, stating the obvious, but it seemed to make him concern now. "Things must be more serious then I thought if he's involved."

As the two hedgehog raced down the jungle road, the path ahead was about to split with a river ahead to diverge them. Without thinking, the two crossed one another a couple times before taking their own paths. Sonic took the one with loops and fallen trees on the road, which he either jumped or slide under if there was a gap underneath before boosting forward. Shadow's path had more winding roads and also had fallen trees too, but the ultimate lifeform was more than able to make those hard turns and jumped over each tree that got in his way, then also boosted the moment it was all clear and caught up to Sonic. Eventually, the two paths converged and the two hedgehogs were back to racing not far apart from one another.

It wasn't long until the area Eggman's lab was located was spotted ahead, but the only way to get to it is to cross an enormous river that had multiple rocky pillars poking out of it. Seeing them, Sonic and Shadow, at the same time, jumped and begun jumping from one pillar to another on their respective sides. Eventually, the two speedy hedgehogs made their way to the last pillars at the end of the river and took a huge leap in the air and landed at the same time time back on land, arriving at their destination.

 **(Song Ends: Rival Battle - Shadow (For True Story) - Sonic Generations)**

Once their little race was over, Sonic chuckled and shot a grin towards the black hedgehog. "I totally won that." he said as Shadow payed him no attention as he walked on ahead, but even he couldn't help but smirk a little.

"Hmph... So you believe." he said, causing Sonic to lose his grin and give him an annoyed look.

"What's that suppose to mean?" he asked before following after the ultimate lifeform, who couldn't help but noticed that there was no sign of Eggman's robots anywhere around the entrance to the lab.

"Hmm... Something's not right here." he stated, thought remained on guard. "There's no sign of any of the doctor's mechs anywhere."

"I noticed that too." said Sonic, knowing exactly what Shadow as talking about, which confused him. "It's not exactly Eggman's style to leave a place, even a small one, unprotected."

"Yeah. And that's what's troubling." Shadow stated, narrowing his eyes at the thought. "Something's not right here."

But just then, Shadow looked up to see the Tornado-1 coming in for a landing, causing him to turn back to see it land, and so did Sonic, who smiled when he noticed the biplane. "Tails!" exclaimed the blue hedgehog as Tails jumped out of the cockpit and smiled.

"Sonic." he said before running up to his lifelong friend and gave him a high-five. "I'm glad you came all the way out here."

"You know me, Tails... Can't resist not knowing what Egghead's up to sometimes." smirked Sonic before pointing a thumb back towards Shadow. "And look, Shadow came running here too."

"Yeah. I saw you and him while I was flying over the jungle." stated Tails before setting his sight on Shadow with Sonic. "Are you here because of what happened too, Shadow?"

"Of course." the black hedgehog replied with his arms crossed and a serious expression as always. "Whatever happened was too important for me to not come. The doctor was obviously behind it."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" asked Sonic as he made his way passed Shadow and up to the entrance to Eggman's lab, which was closed. "Let's find out what old Egghead's up to." he smiled as Shadow walked up and stood next to him, while Tails remained behind the two. The two hedgehogs inspected the closed doors closely before Sonic his head towards Shadow with his fists on his hips. "So do you wanna do the honors or should I?"

In response to Sonic's question, Shadow let out an annoyed sigh before uncrossing his arms and jumped up in the air before rolling into his black ball form and launched himself at the closed lab doors, a trail of yellow left behind him as he did so. With one strong hit, the doors came crashing down inside the lab, while Shadow had jumped back and landed on his feet. Afterwards, Sonic grinned before coming up and patted him on the shoulder. "Nice one, Shadow." he said before running inside. "Couldn't have done it better myself."

Again, Shadow let out another sigh of annoyance, knowing Sonic was joking before rushing in after him, but Tails couldn't help but noticed what Shadow noticed earlier, that there were no guards in sight. "That's odd... Where the guards?" he said, taking one more look around before heading into the lab after the two hedgehogs, though now he was beginning to worry a little more.

* * *

 _ **~Mystic Jungle, Eggman's Secret Lab, Evening Time~**_

Inside the lab, Sonic, Shadow, and Tails slowly made their way down a long hallway, keeping their guards up for any traps or robots Eggman may have left behind. However, the further they went into the old lab, there was still no sign of resistance or traps of any kind. Though Shadow continued to keep his eyes peeled for something to jump out at them, Sonic yawned loudly out of boredom, while Tails couldn't help but worry even more. Eventually, they came up to a door that opened when they got near it, revealing the main lab with the multiple test tubes and computer Eggman was in earlier today.

"This must be the main room, but still no sign of the doctor." said Shadow, being the first to walk in with Sonic in tow.

"I know." Sonic replied with a bored expression and his arms behind his head. "I was expecting a little more of a fight. Eggman could've at least left us a welcome party or something."

But while Sonic was busy being bored with the situation, Tails spun his two tails and flew over the two hedgehogs all the way to the main computer, landing near the control panel and proceeded to press way at the keys. "Hmm... Let's see..." he said as he opened up files on Eggman's computer, while Sonic and Shadow stopped once they were behind him.

"Did you find anything, Tails?" asked Sonic, putting his arms down and his hands on his hips. "What's Egghead been doing?"

"That's what I'm trying to find, but, there's nothing here." Tails answered with a confused expression when he found that the computer's files were empty.

"Say what now?!" exclaimed Sonic in surprise, while Shadow walked up and moved Tails away from the controls, but not in a forceful way.

"Let me see." he said as Tails stepped back and allowed the black hedgehog to check the computer's files too, noticing that they truly were empty, but that wasn't all. "It looks like the files on this computer were deleted. Not too long ago by the looks of it."

"But why would Eggman go and do that?" asked Tails, confused even more. "I know Eggman and he'd never delete anything off his computers. Believe me. At the Chemical Plant, he saved ten terabytes of selfies."

"Wow... Leave it to Eggman to be an egomaniac." said Sonic with a smirk. "Might as well call him Ego-man in that case."

"This isn't a joking matter, Sonic." Tails stated, giving a serious expression back at the blue hedgehog. "None of this makes any sense. The readings from the tremors and noise led to here, but there's nothing here. No guards, data, or even a sign of Eggman."

At that very moment when Tails said Eggman's name, in a flash, a video footage popped up on the computer's monitor, revealing Eggman's face. "Did I hear someone say my name?" he asked with a grin, causing Sonic, Shadow, and Tails to jump a bit in surprise.

 **(Song Plays: E.G.G.M.A.N. - Sonic Adventure 2)**

"Eggman!" shouted Sonic the moment he saw Eggman, getting serious, along with Shadow.

"That's my name! No need to wear it out." Eggman replied before taking a good look at the room the three Mobians were in. "I see you came uninvited into my lab. I'd let security show you the way out, but I needed all my robots to come with me to my new base, so I apologize if I can't give you a proper welcome."

"New base?" asked Tails, scratching the side of his head before realizing why there were no robots around the lab now. "So that explains the lack of mechs around here."

"And the lack of fun." Sonic added, looking bored again. "No wonder there was no sign of fun when I got here."

But while Sonic was too focused on not being able to break some of Eggman's robots, Shadow stepped forward and leered at the doctor through the monitor. "What are you up to this time, doctor?" he asked as Sonic and Tails set their sights back on Eggman too. "You were behind those tremors and that strange noise across the planet, weren't you?"

"Oh come on... Why does everyone always assume that when weird things happen in the world it's always because me?" Eggman asked, but all he got in response were "Really?" faces from Sonic, Shadow, and Tails, causing him to lose his innocence before getting serious. "Okay, fine, it was me. I admit it. You happy now?!"

"I will be once I knock the hairs off your mustache for that earache you gave me earlier." said Sonic with a not so happy expression before he pointed at the evil doctor. "That was not cool, Egghead. Too bad you're not an ear doctor, because I'm gonna have to crack you open like the rotten egg you are."

"Hey there's no need for name calling, you blue buffoon." Eggman glared in reply before grinning yet again. "Besides, I'm in a good mood. So far my plans have been working out swimmingly. It won't be long now until my newest evil scheme to take over the world is set in motion."

"Wow..." said Sonic as he turned his head towards Tails, finding it unbelievable that Eggman already has a new evil plan for world domination months after his last one was foiled. "He just doesn't know when to give up, does he?"

As Tails nodded in agreement with his friend, Shadow was starting to get annoyed with the evil doctor. "I've heard about enough, doctor." he said as Sonic and Tails turned their heads towards the ultimate lifeform. "Whatever it is you're scheming, it's never going to end the way you think it will."

"Heh...! That's what you think, Shadow." Eggman grinned in response to what Shadow said. "If that's really what you believe, then why don't you come prove it. My new base is established on the southwest side of Trenant Mountain."

"That's one of the largest mountains on the planet." Tails stated, surprised to hear that where Eggman set up, but this didn't sound right with Sonic.

"Why are you telling us this, Egghead?" he asked with a serious expression, but then he smirked. "You so confident that you're just blabbing out where you set up shop this time?"

"Oh I'm very confident, Sonic." replied Eggman, pointing towards Sonic through the monitor. "Confident that you'll get in, as you always do, but you won't be coming back out! And even if you do get in, I doubt you will without a scratch. I've got so much security around the mountain, you're bound to be noticed the moment you come near!" he said as he brushed his hand away into a fist dramatically. "Just try to come stop me. I dare you! Heheh... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

 **(Song Ends: E.G.G.M.A.N. - Sonic Adventure 2)**

Once Eggman finished his maniacal laughter, the video footage was cut off, leaving Sonic, Shadow, and Tails in the now quiet lab with the info on the evil doctor's new base. Knowing where he was now, Sonic couldn't help but grin. "Well, at least now we know where the fun is." he stated before setting his sights towards Shadow. "What do you say, Shadow? Care to come along for the ride?"

"Hmph..." Shadow smirked in reply before turning around and started making his way out of the lab. "As long as you don't get in my way."

"No problem there." Sonic replied before following, but Tails was still baffled by everything that's happened so far, including Eggman's motives and activity.

"Wait a minute, guys!" he shouted, running after the two hedgehogs, who stopped to look back at him. "Doesn't any of this bother you? First Eggman causes the world to shake with noise, then leaves his own lab for us to find with no data on what he's plotting, then just tells us where he's at? None of this sounds like anything Eggman would normally do!"

"You're right, Tails." Sonic agreed with a serious expression. "Nothing about this seems right. Not even for Eggman." he said, but then he got to thinking about what the evil doctor called him earlier, which sort of baffled the blue hedgehog. "Plus, I'm sure I never heard Eggman call me blue buffoon before. I know someone else did, but him calling me that is a fist. I would know."

"Name calling aside, whatever the doctor's up to, there's no question that it needs to be put a stop to." Shadow stated before powering up his rocket shoes and skated forward, making his way out of the lab.

"I'm with Shadow on this one." said Sonic back to Tails. "Whatever Eggman is up to, it's gonna end sooner than he planned. The world can't take another plan of his right now. Not after the last one."

Knowing all too well that it felt too soon for Eggman to be hatching a new plan to take over the world, especially after his last one left Mobius in a state of shock, Sonic kept a serious face as he turned and dashed way back out of the lab. Tails knew that Sonic was right as he nodded before making his way out of the lab too, but at his own fast speed, which was naturally slower than Sonic and Shadow's. However, as the three left the main room, unknown to them, they have been watched the whole time by a hidden security camera that was active, but was sending the feed to a different location.

* * *

 _ **~Unknown Location, Evening Time~**_

Though the location the lab's hidden security camera was a mysterious, it appeared that someone was watching the feed being sent. It was a shadowy figure of none other than Eggman, but something seemed different about him. Though he appeared to be wearing the same clothes as he usually wears, despite it and his face being hidden in shadows, his left eye, though normally hidden under his glasses, was glowing red around the sclera, and the iris was glowing yellow.

He was seen sitting in a chair as a smaller shadowy figure was seen floating down not too far behind him. "It appears that Sonic and the others have taken the bait as predicted." Eggman said before turning around in his chair towards the unknown figure, his left eye glowing through his glasses' lens. "It won't be long now until he arrives."

"Excellent, doctor." said the unknown figure with his arms crossed, who came into view and turned out to be...Infinite. "It appears the plan is progressing just as I thought it would."

"Indeed." Eggman nodded in reply. "Though it also appears Shadow is coming as well. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No." Infinite answered, turning away from the doctor to gaze at multiple monitors showing security feeds of the established base near Trenant Mountain. "Even he won't be a problem compared to what I have in store." he chuckled before taking out the red Chaos Emerald Eggman used before to power the energy wave that caused the tremors and screeching noise earlier, admiring his reflection on its red surface. "Oh yes... Very soon, with my new powers, there will be one less blue hedgehog in this world."

With the thought of ending Sonic coursing through his mind, Infinite chuckled even more until he let out a loud evil laughter which echoed throughout the room he and Eggman were in and more. It could be heard even outside, which was the outer area of Eggman's new base, and into the night.

* * *

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED...**_

* * *

 **Oh dear... Looks like Sonic and the others are gonna have a major fight on their hands very soon. Though it's Eggman they're seeing, is it really him running the show? Or is it Infinite? I'll let you guys decide on that until the moment of truth is revealed. ;D  
**

 **Bet you guys noticed the addition of music in this chapter. I decided that I'll be adding some music in some areas of a chapter from now on. I thought it'd give the story a little more kick to it, depending on what's going on and if it's fitting enough. However, I am aware that music can be a bit distracting to some of you, and if it is, feel free to not ignore it if you can. Just please don't go writing in a review about how distracting it is. I already know it can be, so don't go giving me a hard time about it. Like I said, just don't listen to any music if you think it'll be distracting, okay? X(**

 **Anyway, I think I'll stop here for now. Hopefully I got Sonic, Shadow, Tails, and Eggman's characters right in this chapter. Let me know if I did or not. Or at least to a certain degree maybe. Remember to fave and/or follow if you really want to find out what will happen next, and please R &R. I'm also eager to hear your comments about my chapters. If you happen to have any advice or an idea you wish to share with me about my little sequel story, feel free to share it. If it's good, I may just use it, so try to make it good. Until then, I'll be seeing you guys and gals later! :D**


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